Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
by LilithEros
Summary: You were a regular policewoman wanting to get away from the nightmares back in your old city. Luckily, you run into Detective Tohru Adachi, and he is all too eager to help you out with that. As you involve yourself with Adachi, you are inevitably pulled into the chaos swirling around him... [Reader x Adachi]
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Inaba

**A/N:** Well hello there! Name's Lilith, and welcome to my very first posted fic! I've been writing for a while, but have never posted anything until now. This happens to be my first reader-insert as well! I am hoping that this will turn out okay... I don't have an ending planned out yet, just ideas. ^^;;; There aren't many reader inserts here and I don't know how well this fic will do, but I do hope that someone out there will enjoy this! Adachi is probably my absolute fave character in the game and my mind has been begging me to write something with him. And then this was born!

 **Warnings:** POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR P4, coarse language, sexual happenings later on, possible violence... rated M for a reason haha!

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing relating to the Persona franchise, nor do I own you.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Welcome to Inaba**

 **June 2011**

* * *

"What did I do to deserve this?" you groaned, mentally cursing the pissing night sky above you and every misfortune you had encountered before this moment.

You sank to your knees in the middle of the empty street, weighed down by defeat and the plastic bags of pricey necessities from Junes lining your arms. The thin clothes you had chosen to wear due to the summer weather clung to your body in a layer of chilling moisture. The countless predictions for a drier summer and the non-existent rain clouds had lulled you into a false sense of safety from the rain. Naturally, the idea of bringing an umbrella or a raincoat never occurred to you before leaving your apartment.

Until the skies opened up to vomit a torrential downpour upon your sorry head coming back from Junes.

You had no money left for a new umbrella, or even a cheap plastic poncho. For a moment you considered buying a box of large trash bags to drape over yourself like a crazy hobo, however you didn't think you even had enough for that.

There was no choice but to continue home soaking wet.

"But… where the hell _is_ home?"

The sudden realization made your stomach sink even further. You raised your head away from your pitiful reflection in the rippling puddle before your knees, squinting through the stringy tendrils of your hair and the huge droplets splattering into your eyes.

The street lights were few and far between, making visibility even worse. No traffic passed and there were no familiar signs or landmarks. How you even found your way to Junes, you would never know. You didn't even remember the way back to Junes now.

You looked like a lost puppy left out in the rain… and you certainly felt like one.

There was a rising of hate for Inaba with each passing miserable second.

Late train. Missing moving boxes. A trek many blocks away from home to be practically robbed by the money hungry grocery franchise in order to purchase your replacement clothing and other essentials. Then, the damn rain...

The fact that you had to show up at the Inaba police department in the morning to start your job was just the rotten cherry atop the shit sundae being served to you.

It was past 11pm at the moment, and you doubted you would have a good night's sleep since you had to wake up at 4am to get ready.

Well… it's not like you slept all that well anyway.

After all the weird shit you had experienced 2 years ago in Iwatodai, you figured it was high time you moved.

FAR, far away.

Night patrol had been the absolute worst. Freaky green sky, blood and coffins everywhere, the strange shadowy blobs… You scrambled to hide wherever you could within the city when the clock struck twelve. For some reason you stupidly decided to tough it out for a few years during the start of your career and do what you could to protect the civilians.

And then the fucking moon had to open its giant eye and come crashing down onto the city.

God knows how many hours you spent with your shrink sobbing about your dreams of being squashed by a humongous eyeball or consumed by a sentient pile of tar.

You wished to escape the nightmares even after they were over, and transfer to a place where you could relax. A place where the most eventful problem you would have to deal with was fishing an old lady's cat out of a tree.

No more walking past slack-jawed, apathetic zombies.

No more looking the other way as Officer Kurosawa slips underage teens extremely strange and dangerous weapons.

No more puke green nightsky and bleeding coffins.

After a long while of searching, you finally found a suitable place to transfer to. You were content with the idea of living in this quiet country town, and hoped that it would be all the therapy you needed.

And so far… this might have been another mistake to add to the long list.

"Um, excuse me, Miss? Do you realize you're sitting in the middle of the road?" A soft voice tore you away from your morbid thoughts.

You looked up, blinking and swiping the rainwater from your vision with the back of your hand.

A tall, slender figure stood in front of you. Dark suit, short unkempt black hair, mildly concerned expression on his pale face. With one thin hand he held an umbrella that shielded him from the rain. You looked at the object longingly. It looked very dry under there…

You sighed heavily and gave him a bitter smile.

"I think being run over would be better than living the shit Fate's thrown at me."

The man chuckled, the sound awkward and uncomfortable from his frowning lips. He didn't seem to know what to say to that.

"Weeeell… are you hurt? Is there anyone I can call? Mom, dad… boyfriend?" he paused thoughtfully, a small friendly smile replacing his frown. He crouched down to your level and held the umbrella over you.

At this, your eyebrow rose. He thought you were a kid.

"I'm a police officer, Miss. I can help," he assured gently. The man laid his free hand on your shoulder. You could feel his warmth through the material of your shirt. The shock of your differing body temperatures and the oddly intimate squeeze he administered made you slightly uncomfortable. You flinched away from his touch.

He continued to stare with that same amiable gaze, unfazed.

You tried to clear your throat and felt your cheeks warm a little.

"Ah.. Uh, no," you said with a shake of your head. It was easier to see him now that he was closer and you found your gaze flickering over his average features. Nothing spectacular in your opinion, but the man wasn't all that bad to look at. He appeared to be your age… maybe a little older?

"Um, I mean no, you don't have to call anyone. Not that there's anyone to call anyway…" You trailed off, the thought of having to go home to an empty apartment haunting you.

"Oh? Not even your parents?"

Was it just you, or was his face a little closer to yours?

Your eyes found his dark orbs and you shook your head again, this time with a little more irritation.

"I'm not a wayward teen. I'm an adult with my own place and everything… I'm uh… just a little lost. New in town, you see." You sighed in frustration and sobered to the fact that the dirty puddle you sat in had seeped thoroughly into your underwear.

"S-sorry! I didn't realize… you look so young!" Again he laughed awkwardly and gave you a sheepish smile.

Sure, you were in your mid-twenties, but you didn't think that you looked like a high schooler. You settled with taking the comment as a compliment.

"Well since you're lost, I could escort you home... maybe help you with these bags as well? I know this town like the back of my hand now."

A smile ghosted your lips at his offer and you nodded gratefully.

"Oh man, that'd be awesome. Thank you!" Internally, you were sobbing with joy. Perhaps Fate wasn't all that angry at you after all.

You allowed him to help you up, relieved when he took some of the bags off your tired arms. It was then that you realized how cold you really were as the blood started flowing through your numb legs. The sensation felt like being stung by needles of ice.

You told him your address and hoped that the route would be quick.

"Wait, you live _there_? What a coincidence, I live there too! Was just headed home. Boy, are you lucky I found you!" The man grinned and you saw a soft twinkle in his eyes as he gazed at you. His smile was infectious and you found yourself beaming too.

He began to lead the way, kindly sharing his umbrella with you.

"So, you're new here huh? Explains why I've never seen you around. This town's pretty small, so I know practically every face I pass by. It's nothing at all like the big city," the man said.

You looked to him and nodded in agreement.

"You can say that again. I moved here from Iwatodai, and this place just seems like a whole other world. But all these little streets here are like a maze. Even if it's small, it's still confusing. But I'm hoping it'll be easier to memorize than the city."

"Oh don't worry, you'll get it. It took me a couple months to understand the layout, but I know my way around now. After all, it's my job being an officer of the law here." He turned to you with that easy smile you were starting to grow accustomed to and studied your face for a moment. "So, what's your name?"

You gave your name, wondering what about your face was so interesting to look at that he had to stare.

"Uh, well make sure you got it memorized, eh? We'll probably be seeing each other on a daily basis. I'll be working under the Inaba PD starting tomorrow," you stated.

"Wha? So you're a cop too? Man, you wouldn't know it by just looking at you." He casually gave you a once over and you felt another blush coming on. You could say the same thing about him with his rumpled suit but under his scrutiny you couldn't summon your voice to say so.

"Y'know, it's really a good thing we ran into each other. There's some crazy serial killer on the loose if you don't know. Seems like he's gotta taste for young women with how the case has been going. It'd be pretty bad if you were caught all alone and vulnerable this late at night. But hey! At least I'm here, right?"

You blinked at the cheerfulness he exuded and wondered how he could stay so sunny with this so called 'crazy serial killer' running around free.

A shiver passed through you.

You had nearly forgotten the strange murder case that was going on in Inaba with all the misfortunes that had piled up on you. Two women, one a well-known TV announcer, dead and hanging from TV antennas and telephone poles, multiple kidnappings…

Well, there goes your idea of finding peace in this town.

At least you were allowed to carry a gun.

You managed a nervous chuckle and rubbed at your arms in a vain attempt to warm yourself.

"Oh hey, you haven't told me your name yet, Mr. Policeman," you mentioned with a friendly nudge.

"I haven't? Sorry about that," he says with an apologetic smile, "The name's Tohru. Detective Tohru Adachi." He promptly pulled his badge from his pocket as proof of his identity and any suspicions you harbored melted away.

You flashed him a smile.

"Well, pleased to make your acquaintance, Adachi-san."

 **...**

"Here's my place. Thank you so much for helping me back, Adachi-san," you said as you approached the door to your apartment. You fished the key from your dripping purse and inserted it into the lock.

"Hey no problem at all. I uh.. just hope you don't catch a cold after being out so long." You turned your head back and caught him eyeing your wet clothes. The moment you made eye contact with him, he let out an anxious cough and looked away quickly with a light blush dusting his cheeks.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out your clothes had been practically see through this whole time.

Well, damn it.

You whipped around quickly, face reddening, and opened the door.

"Um... If you ever need anymore assistance, you could just come knock on my door, heh." Adachi pointed to the door opposite from yours with a wide grin.

Your brows shot up in surprise as you looked to his door. Co-worker AND neighbor? This town was smaller than you thought.

"Wow, okay. I'll keep that in mind," you nodded and stepped inside your apartment. "You can just put those bags in the kitchen area here. Sorry about the mess. As you can see, I haven't finished unpacking yet." You inclined your head to the boxes scattered across the plain white room, some appearing to have exploded after your frantic search for your missing things.

You removed your shoes at the genkan and crossed the small apartment to your bed, dumping some of the bags you held on the floor next to it. You pulled out a few items of clothing from them and proceed to make your way to the bathroom with a bag of toiletries.

"You can go if you want to. I'll unload the groceries once I'm done changing. It's pretty late, I don't want to keep you up if you have to work tomorrow too, Adachi-san," you said. Checking the clock, you saw that there were fifteen minutes before midnight.

 _I swear to God, if I see any weird coffins, I'll eat my gun…_

Adachi flashed you a thumbs up and watched you enter the bathroom.

"Christ, is this what he had to stare at all night?" you murmured with a frown at your reflection in the mirror. You attacked your smeared makeup with a cleansing wipe and towel dried your hair.

Though, it couldn't have been worse than being able to see your unmentionables without x-ray vision. Your face continued to burn as you peeled off your clothing and donned the new outfit.

You walked back out to the living area while combing the last of the tangles from your damp hair and paused, seeing Adachi still there taking it upon himself to put away your groceries.

"Oh! You didn't have to do that, Adachi-san! I could have handled it myself." You swooped in to help him but he shook his head with a smile.

"It's all right, I'm almost done. Whoa… this is a huge bottle of booze! You gonna drink all this by yourself!?" he exclaimed as he held up a comically large vessel of sake with a stunned expression on his face.

You snatched it away from him with a sheepish blush and shoved it into the fridge.

"Can't blame me for wanting to drown my sorrows. Besides… it was on sale," you admitted, running a hand through your hair. "If you want to share it with me sometime, then I wouldn't mind. It can be my thanks to you for being such a big help."

You eyed the clock again and deemed that you are way too tired to break open the bottle now. You only had a few hours to try and rest before work.

"That sounds good. I think I'd like that," Adachi replied happily. "What time are you going to work? We could carpool to the station in the morning, if you'd like."

Seeing as you had sold your car out of necessity before the big move, the idea sounded amazing. There was no need to risk getting lost and being late on your first day. You accepted his offer as you saw him out the door.

"Okay, see you later! Have a good night!" Adachi waved as he unlocked the door to his own apartment.

"Good night, Adachi-san," you answered, lips curving upward into a small smile.

You didn't have the strength to make it to your bed despite the fact that it was just a few yards from your door. You flopped onto the couch in front of the dead TV, staring at the screen with heavy lids.

Well, at least you had turned out the lights.

The steady tick of the clock was enough to send you to sleep, but for some reason you fought it. The thought of midnight being seconds away instinctively sent chills through your body. You didn't think you would ever recover from the trauma.

The clock struck twelve.

Before you closed your eyes, you noticed the TV screen crackled to life and bathed the room in a dull electronic glow.

You blinked.

A hazy figure appeared among the static. Some shadowy silhouette undulated on the screen. A girl?

Maybe you were more tired than you thought.

You shut your eyes and tried to sleep through the static.

* * *

 **End A/N:** Alrighty! Hope you enjoyed this fic. Please review and tell me your thoughts on this. I am open to constructive criticism, suggestions, etc. Do tell me if I've made any errors and I'll try and correct them! As for your being able to walk around Port Island during the Dark Hour... well there's a reason for that... uh maybe LOL... I have some ideas, and hoping they'll work out. Otherwise... I'm starting all over from scratch... V.V;;;

Updates will come when they come. I'm a mom first before writing, so I may be busy at times. But I'll try to work as quickly and efficiently as I can! Please try and stay with me til the end!


	2. Chapter 2: First Day On the Job

**A/N: Wow... it took a while to get this one out. Sorry about that, haha... My brain went blank near the end and I'm just now coming back to this. Working on the third chapter now. Hopefully it won't take near as long. No guarantees though, gonna have some busy weeks ahead of me with family plans. I'll try to write when I can. Happy reading!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **First Day On the Job**

* * *

Three hours and thirty-five minutes of sleep.

Whoopee… a new record.

You rubbed the sleep from your tired eyes as you forced yourself off the couch. Several times during the night you had startled awake from your vivid dreams and slipped back into a troublesome slumber.

"Why can't I just sleep like a normal human being?" you grumbled, grimacing at the sound of your bones popping while you stretched. Your body ached from the unsupportive couch and the endless walking last night.

Seeing as you hadn't set up your alarm clock yet and your cellphone was dead in your purse, you were almost thankful you didn't go back to sleep.

Almost.

You gathered up the gumption to prepare yourself for work.

The smell of coffee freshly brewed coffee greeted you when you stepped out of the bathroom fully showered and made up to conceal your exhausted visage underneath. It had taken a good few minutes to locate the coffee maker in the mess of boxes, but it was time well spent. Lord knows you needed the caffeine.

"I wonder if sake will doctor this up," you idly mused, eyeing the fridge while taking a sip of the cheap off-brand brew. No amount of cream or sugar could cover up the muddy bitterness assaulting your taste buds.

A knock sounded at your door while you toyed with the idea of putting just a 'drop' of booze into your mug. You looked to the clock and were surprised to see it was nearly six. You spent more time standing in the shower spacing out than you thought. But who could blame you? The mental image of the yellow-eyed blobs from your nightmares tearing you apart had dominated a good part of your thoughts during your shower.

Maybe you should call up the doc again and request a refill for your medication. Though, you hated the weird mental haze it created to ease your anxiety. Was hard chasing down miscreants when the world around you was spinning.

"Well, no drunk coffee for me today," you lamented and went to answer the door with mug still in hand.

"Good morning, rookie!" Adachi chimed as you opened the door.

"Mornin' Adachi-san. Don't know if this is exactly a 'good' one for me at least," you shrugged and let him inside. You thought you were far from 'rookie' status having been in the force for a good few years, but perhaps it was just because you were new and he was in a higher position.

However, you decided to not let it bother you too much. He was the only decent person you had met so far.

"Oh? What's up, you homesick already?" The detective asked, choosing to relax on your bland couch without being invited to. You shook your head and took another reluctant swig of your poor excuse for a morning pick-me-up.

"No way. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to that- uh, ahem. It's not that," You corrected swiftly. There wasn't any way to explain the reason without making you look like a raving lunatic.

You swallowed a lump when you saw his questioning gaze and laughed it off. "Nope, just had a terrible sleep. Maybe it's the new bed, ahaha…" You spun around and went to the coffee pot, occupying yourself with refilling your mug even if it was two thirds full.

"Hm… funny, the bed doesn't even look like you slept in it," Adachi pointed out nonchalantly and you winced slightly.

 _Thanks for the observation, Mr. Detective_.

"You want some coffee? There's still a lot left," you offered, hoping to steer away from the topic of your sleeping habits.

"Sure, sounds good," he replied and you felt a small wave of relief go through you.

You dug out another mug from one of the boxes, rinsed it out and poured a portion of coffee into it.

One of these days, you would find the motivation to actually unpack and clear the disasteriffic mess in your apartment.

"Do you want anything in it? This stuff kinda sucks, so I usually load mine up with cream and sugar." You snuck another spoonful of sugar into your own cup and took a sip.

"Nah, that's okay. Black's fine."

"Okaaay. Your funeral~," you said in a sing-song voice and went to hand the steaming mug to him. Hopefully he wouldn't mind getting the 'I need coffee right meow!' design complete with a grouchy cat graphic. It was either that, or the Totoro mug you've had since you were seven…

You really needed to get dishes more suited for your age.

You sat at the opposite end of the couch, watching with interest as Adachi took an experimental taste and looked ready to spit it out again. His face twisted in disgust and he politely placed the cup on the coffee table in silence. You shuddered with him as he swallowed the offending liquid.

"Ugh, you weren't kidding. How can you drink that stuff?" Adachi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and you laughed.

"It's an acquired taste; a taste you pick up when you have a bank account like mine," you smiled wryly.

"Well, how about this," Adachi said as he took your cup and placed it on the table as well, "Next time, we'll do coffee at my place. My bank account isn't anything to sniff at either, but I can still afford the good stuff." He smiled playfully at you and stood up. "But in the meantime, if you're ready to go, we can pick up something to eat and a better cup of coffee at the gas station on the way to the station. My treat."

Adachi held out his hand to you to help you up and you took it.

"Wow, thanks Adachi-san. I promise that I'll pay you back somehow… You've been so nice to me even if we've just met." Honestly, you couldn't remember a time when a guy was this generous to you.

Then again, you couldn't remember the last time you were around a guy.

Between work and dealing with your fear of midnight monsters, there just wasn't any time for romance. Awkward high school boyfriends and college flings were the only thing you had experience with.

 _Wait a minute. I don't even know this guy very well AND he's a co-worker. Why am I thinking like this?_

You shoved away those thoughts, feeling your face flood with warmth.

"No problem at all," Adachi said, bringing you back to reality, "I have no qualms about helping out a pretty lady." He gave your hand an additional squeeze as he pulled you up then released his grasp, fingertips ghosting your palm before slipping into his pocket. "But of course… it would be nice if you paid back the favor one day," he added with a wink.

His comments swept your brain back to lala land. Your eyes followed him as he stood by the door, your feet rooted to the floor. You were stunned.

 _He thinks I'm pretty?_

Your mind reeled slightly and you stared at him a moment more. Your hand still tingled where he touched.

Adachi simply smiled and waited for you.

 **...**

 _Are you a man… or a woman?_

The question was burning a hole in your mind as you stared at the attendant working at the Moel gas station. The thought was kind of a nice retreat from thinking about Adachi's words from earlier.

You took a large bite of your breakfast onigiri in an attempt to silence the offensive query on the tip of your tongue as you leaned against Adachi's car.

The androgynous attendant was willowy. There was no other way to describe his/her figure. His/her… _its_ curling hair was of a medium length, the color reminding you of the gray clouds hanging overhead and seemed to make the owner's skin even more pale than it really was. The face was quite hard to place in a gender slot. If it was male, then it would have been a pretty man. If it was female, then it would have been a rather… handsome woman.

Either way, you were kind of jealous of its clean, graceful hands. Not a drop of grease on them despite working at a gas station. Fingers were long and slender, more suited to elegant things like playing the piano or arranging flowers. And oh, how you wished you had the same luster in your nails that this person did.

To your horror, the being caught your stare, a smile forming on its lips.

"Well hello there. Don't believe I've seen you around. Are you the detective's girlfriend?" The attendant nodded in the general direction of Adachi who was inside the conbini browsing. The voice was challenging to determine too, the sound akin to a woman masquerading as a man or a prepubescent male teen.

Your eyes widened and you shook your head furiously, face red.

"Oh no, no, no… nothing relatively like that!" you sputtered. "I work for the Inaba police too. Just arrived last night!"

The thing laughs at you and sets the gas pump back in its spot.

"Ah, I see. Another new resident. Well, welcome to Inaba! I'm sure that you'll be kept busy with work. The police department's been swamped ever since the murders happened. This quiet little town has turned into something of a circus with all the hoopla going on," it grins and rubs its hands on its spotless pant legs as if they were full of grime.

"If you ever need a break, you could always come down here to hang out and take a breather. Mr. Detective over there likes to quite often." It extended its hand to you in a friendly gesture.

You stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do.

The attendant smirked and instead clapped the hand on your shoulder.

"See you around then, _(Name)_."

It walked back toward the store and you shivered slightly, a strange queasiness turning your stomach.

You didn't remember giving your name.

 **…**

You had definitely picked the wrong time to transfer to Inaba.

"HEY! C'mon guys, it ain't that hard to form a damn line!" you shouted at the masses pushing against you in front of the Marukyu tofu shop. You held up your arms and flailed about but your voice was lost in the excited chatter of the crowd.

You had been here for a solid seven hours since 9am with maybe one short break before the crowd began to grow as schools let out in the afternoon. Before this, since you had arrived at the station with Adachi, your morning had been filled with introductions, discussion on protocol and patrolling Inaba with an older officer to get the layout.

Needless to say, you were beyond exhausted.

You had half a mind to pull out your gun and fire a shot to make the gawkers all scatter, but you would rather not be written up on your first day for endangering the lives of innocent civilians.

Though, with the way you were being jostled, you didn't know how much more you could take before socking someone in the throat.

"All right, I'm gonna ask you all one more time to- GAH!"

The arm of an overzealous fan whipped up to hold his camera phone over the crowd and effectively punched you in the nose with a surprising amount of force.

 _Drip_. _Drip_. _Drip_.

 _ **Fuck**_.

You glared daggers at the offender, but you found that he was too preoccupied with snapping blurry pictures of the storefront in an attempt to capture a glimpse of Rise instead of apologizing profusely to you.

"This is NOT worth it!" you hissed and fought your way to the sidelines to recover, holding your bleeding nose.

You leaned against the weathered wooden wall of the Shiroku Store, tilting your head downwards, thumb and index finger pinching your aching nose as you waited for the blood flow to stop.

You shut your eyes and sighed heavily, fighting the dizziness threatening to make you drop right there on the sidewalk. The jacket was killing you despite it being cloudy. Not even the skirt could save you from the horrid humidity and the collective body heat in front of Marukyu. And to top it all off, the sickness after leaving the gas station came back in full force, churning your stomach and making your head pound.

Was it the onigiri this morning? Was the milk or cream in the coffee spoiled? Either way, you didn't think you would be consuming anything from the gas station for a while.

Thankfully, your nose stopped bleeding when you checked a minute later.

Not so thankfully, your hand and face were stained with crimson.

You took one last look at the crowd and saw another officer had taken your place in crowd control. Sending a silent prayer of gratitude to whatever deity caring to listen, you entered Shiroku to purchase some wipes to clean you up and maybe some medicine too.

"Whoa, what happened to you!?"

Surprisingly, Adachi was inside with his arms full of snacks to buy.

"...Got conked in the nose by a crazy Risette fanboy," you answered flatly and looked around for wipes. You found them on a shelf full of trial-size health items and decided to grab a container of medicine for your ailments.

"Damn, that kinda sucks… and on your first day too," the detective sympathized as he stood behind you while you paid for your things, "It's okay. It happens to the best of us. My very first day, I got pretty banged up chasing this kid down for purse snatching. Tripped over every single rock that came my way. Bad stuff."

You heard him let out an embarrassed laugh and you mustered a tiny smile.

"So… what are _you_ doing here, Adachi-san? I thought you were directing traffic?" you asked as you used the anti-theft mirror to see where to clean your face. You looked at his reflection and saw him giving you his trademark smile.

"Uh… well, I needed a break. Standing there in the heat, getting honked and yelled at by angry drivers because of the insanity out there… a hard-working guy like me needs to take a breather from that kind of stuff from time to time."

You highly doubted he had worked all that hard. The last you saw of him, he had been talking to some teenagers, barely paying attention to what he was doing. You didn't even see him show up until about an hour or two after you had arrived on the scene. Detective Dojima had been quite peeved. If he would've seen Adachi now… the man would've been livid.

"I'd take directing irate drivers any day over this crowd control. That shit's bonkers. I can't believe all these people came out just to see some preppy little high school idol dish out tofu. Bunch of creepers," you snorted and poked at your nose with a frown. It was sore and flared an angry red, but showed no signs of being broken. You hoped that karma would come back and kick that fanboy in the balls. Hard.

"Here, take this. I think you deserve a break too!"

Adachi held a sweating can of milk coffee in front of your face, his arm easily reaching over your head from behind.

"Huh? Um, thanks Adachi-san." You accepted the beverage, relishing the coldness. You pressed it to your hot cheek and nearly moaned in ecstasy. Maybe you did deserve a break.

You added his good deed to the list of things you owed him for. You would need to figure out a way to repay him for his kindness.

The two of you took refuge in the shade between Shiroku and an abandoned store, sitting behind the bushes hidden from sight. If either of you got caught slacking off, you'd no doubt get into big trouble.

"Y'know, you look good in that uniform," Adachi noted, watching as you slipped out of your uniform jacket to lounge in your white collared button-up. You laid it beside you, relieved to have the air hit your sweaty skin.

"You think so?" you smiled sheepishly and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. "Honestly, it feels a little weird wearing a new uniform. It's like I'm starting my career all over again. I just hope it turns out better than before." Your voice grew soft at the end as you stared at the coffee can in your hands.

"Well, I don't know if it'll be any better here. At least in the city, there's more excitement. More opportunity to move up in the ranks, be recognized for heroic deeds, all the things you would think goes on in a police officer's life. But here… it's just a dead end. Out here in the boonies is where careers come to die. It's really boring out here…," Adachi's brows knit together, and you saw something on his face that wasn't something you expected you would see.

He was unhappy.

"That's… kind of a depressing way of looking at it." The corners of your mouth dipped downward as you looked to him. "The whole reason I came out here was to get away from all that 'excitement'. Iwatodai had a little too much for my liking. I didn't have a very good time there," (boy, was that the understatement of the year), "It drove me nuts fearing for my life every day. It got so bad that some days I just couldn't bring myself to go to work. I couldn't take it anymore. I chose to come here of my own volition. It… it sounds like you didn't have that chance, did you?"

Adachi was silent for a moment, his eyes darkening as he stared at the ground.

"Yeah pretty much." He didn't elaborate and instead brought the subject back to you much to your dismay. "Why did you become a police officer in the first place? You should know that it's not for the faint of heart. You would have probably been better off going into something safe like teaching or some kind of desk job if being a cop was so frightening. If you wanted to 'make a difference' like most people want to do these days you could have tried being a doctor or a lawyer. Those jobs pay better anyway." Adachi's smile was something closer to a sneer as the words left his lips.

The sudden change in mood was almost frightening. How could the conversation fall so fast?

But what he said made you pause in thought. You felt… kind of irked at his suggestions of you being more suited for 'safe' work. As if you weren't capable, or strong enough to hold your own being a police officer. The thought was nearly infuriating.

It was the Academy all over again, being teased and made to feel you weren't good enough to pass. It was living with your good for nothing father after your mother had passed from illness as he tried to crush your dreams and tormented you every day of your adolescenthood.

 _'Whadda ya want to be a cop for? You think you can protect anything with those scrawny arms of yours? You'd just be stuck doing traffic work anyway. A dead-end job. You'd make better money pouring booze for a middle-aged business man at a hostess club than you would blowing a whistle at cars.'_

Your father's words still haunted you 'til this day, even after you left him to rot in his life of drinking and revisiting his gangster ways on the side to feed his disgusting habits. Even after the Universe paid him back for his wrongdoings and struck him down with the very bottle he drank from. You shed no tears for him when the news had finally reached your ears. You celebrated your victory with graduating from the Academy.

He was the reason you had wanted to join the police.

To put away scum like him, to protect those who would be hurt by his or any other criminal deeds, to prove him wrong.

Your hands shook as you took a sip of your drink to wet your lips and calm yourself. You hadn't thought of your dad in a long time. Thinking of him was somehow worse than your memories of the creatures you encountered in Port Island. He was the real monster in your eyes.

"You sound like everyone I've ever shared my ambitions with, Adachi-san," you laughed, your voice hollow to your ears. "Let's just say I have my reasons. Very _personal_ reasons I'd rather not share just yet. But I will say that I became an officer to prove all those naysayers wrong, that I really did have it in me to protect and serve. It had always been a dream of mine since I was a child. I wanted to be some kind of hero, someone who could save people from all the evil in the world. When you grow up with evil, you get sick of it real quick."

A warm drop of water fell onto your hand and it took you a moment before you realized it came from you. A steady stream of hot tears were flowing from your eyes and down your cheeks. You swiped at them furiously, trying to swallow the thick ball of emotion lodged in your throat. Luckily, this time you had went for the waterproof makeup after last night.

"Oh geeze… I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry!" Adachi seemed genuinely alarmed seeing your tears. He rubbed at the back of his head and shifted uncomfortably, looking ashamed for what he had said.

Any irritation you had felt toward him dissolved and you placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, Adachi-san. I'm alright. I just wasn't expecting the sudden flood of memories about the subject, that's all."

Really the situation should have been the other way around with him reassuring you but you didn't mind. The look in his eyes was clue enough that he wasn't sure how to handle these things.

"You sure? Man, look at me...making a cute girl cry so easily. I'm horrible, haha…" Adachi avoided your gaze, his face a billboard for the internal battle within his mind.

You sniffled and wiped away the remaining tears, gathering up the courage to ask what was on the tip of your tongue.

"Hey Adachi-san," you began, catching his attention, "You wanna help me with that bottle of sake in my fridge tonight? I could use a drink when I get off of work."

Your offer put the smile back on his face.

"That sounds gre-"

"ADACHI! THERE YOU ARE, YOU SLIPPERY BASTARD!"

The smile was gone just as soon as it had come and the both of you jumped at the deafening roar of a purple-faced Dojima.

He was royally pissed.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing slacking off at a time like this? Didn't I tell you not to leave your post!? Get the fuck off your lazy ass right now; we've got a job to do!"

Adachi leaped to his feet in an instant with a "Yes, Sir!"

The elder detective then turned his glare onto you and you flinched.

"And you! I know you're new here, but I think you're experienced enough to know that when you're assigned a task, you're not to abandon it without notice. I'll let it slide for now, but if I catch you shirking your responsibilities again, I'm writing you up. Don't let this slacker rub off on you." Dojima stabbed a finger in Adachi's direction and you saw the younger man shrink. "Now get back to work."

Detective Dojima gave you another hard look before turning on his heels and walking back to Marukyu. It was only until he disappeared from sight that you released the breath you didn't even realize you were holding.

You _really_ did not want to get on Dojima's bad side.

"Sorry for getting you in trouble. I have a feeling Dojima-san's gonna work me to the bone tonight so… raincheck on that drink?" Adachi asked, hope flashing in his eyes.

"Y-yeah, that'd be fine. I'll just have a glass in your honor then. The rest of the bottle I'll save for when you're free," you promised and the man broke out into a grin. You then gathered your jacket and pushed yourself to your feet, swaying instantaneously.

Fortunately, Adachi caught you before you could fall, and you suddenly found yourself very close to the detective's body.

"Whoa there! Are you all right? Maybe you should take off early, you don't look so good," he observed with a frown. His cool wrist was at your forehead, and you flushed from the sudden contact.

"I-I'm okay, Adachi-san. Probably just a little cold. New atmosphere after all," you answered weakly, your head spinning as you caught the scent of coffee and musk off his clothing.

"You sure? I could fry an egg on your head; you're feeling pretty hot. Maybe I should take you home."

 _You're not making it any better… Please stop touching me..._

At that exact moment, the two of you easily heard the gruff shout of Adachi's name from Dojima's mouth.

"Damn it…" Adachi looked torn as he looked toward the street then back at you. Seeing that look helped you reach a decision. You straightened up and stepped out of his hold, leaning against the wall of the store to keep upright.

"Don't worry about me, Adachi-san. I'll be fine once I take the medicine I bought. It'll be enough to keep me afloat until I clock off. I don't want to get you into more trouble than you already are." You smiled softly at his concerned face, trying with all your strength to appear the picture of good health despite your boiling insides.

Adachi responded unexpectedly, closing the distance between you again and holding your gaze with his dark smokey eyes. The color was almost obsidian in the shadows.

"You're such a good girl. Trying to be selfless even when you're obviously ill… it's cute. Just take care of yourself, all right? Can't share that drink with you if you end up in the hospital from overworking your system," he whispered, breath fanning over your face in the close proximity.

His stare was smoldering.

You shifted from foot to foot in discomfort. Once again, it was as if he were a completely different person. However, even your nervousness couldn't douse the spark of interest inside of you. You wanted to know more about him and it was quite obvious that he was interested in you as well.

"Okay. Uh… I'll t-try not to push myself too much," you stammered, averting your eyes.

Adachi chuckled and grazed your heated cheek with his fingers before patting it gently.

"Good to hear. If you don't mind… could I have your cell phone number? I'd like to be able to check up on you and make sure your condition doesn't get worse later on. If not, I could always just knock on your door. After all, what are neighbors for?" He took out his own phone gazed at you with an expectant look in his eyes.

You wondered if there was another reason he wanted your number. With the way he was staring at you, it wouldn't be farfetched to guess that his intentions weren't restricted to just being a good neighbor.

"S-sure?" You recited your number for him and he typed it in with a small smile. "My phone's dead right now, but I'll make sure to charge it when I get home. Uh… g-guess I'll talk to you later?" Slowly, you met his gaze again, shyly biting your lower lip.

"Definitely. Hope you feel better soon," Adachi smiled, affectionately squeezing your shoulder before stepping back.

When he was finally out of your sight and personal bubble, you sighed and leaned your head back against the wall.

"Jesus, that was intense… what's his deal?" you breathed, feeling your heart thumping a mile a minute as well as a weird tingling between your legs. You hadn't been looked upon like that in a very long time.

You wiped the sweat from your brow and opened the bottle of medicine, downing the contents and chasing the bitterness with the rest of your coffee.

"C'mon, get it together, girl!" You smacked your cheeks and shrugged your jacket back on, straightening yourself.

As you attempted to get back to your duties, you couldn't help but feel incredibly dirty and nervous after the exchange with Adachi. Those damn eyes were seared into your mind and you couldn't get rid of the image if you tried.

* * *

 **End A/N: Thanks for the read! Please leave a review if you loved it... or hated it, hehe. I want to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and critique! Kind of making this relationship a slow burn. Well, as slow as Adachi can bear at least, LOL. I promise things will pick up, but I do enjoy writing it this way...**


	3. Chapter 3: Invitation

**Warning: super long notes!**

 **A/N: Long time, no update! So very sorry, dear readers! I feel terrible, but this chapter has been nothing but a headache lol. I have revised this so many times, taking things out, putting things in, changing and changing... UGH. I am so DONE with this! I suffered writers block for the longest time and deciding the pacing of the relationship. On top of that, I had some personal issues a couple months back so that didn't help. I stepped away from this and came back again, trying to figure out where I wanted to go and how I wanted to write the rest of the story. I have a good idea, but lots of different things I could do with this story. And now, I'm also trying to work on another story. In my spare time, I was reading Rurouni Kenshin and finished it a couple days ago. (I'm a procrastinator, but I think most writers are lol). A plot bunny buried itself in my brain and is trying to make me start on a RuroKen fic with Enishi Yukishiro (omg what is with me and villains?). So there's that distracting me too, but in my excitement I have figured out the entire plot for that haha. But I'm going to try and write a few more chapters of Wolf in Sheep's Clothing before I start that mess haha. I'm going to be honest, I haven't started on chapter 4 yet, but I'm hoping that things will start to pick up more in that chapter. Things will be slowly building at first, but I hope you will stay with me!**

 **Anyway, THANK YOU to those who have read, reviewed, followed and favorited, and for waiting for these slow updates. It makes me so happy that people are enjoying this so far. My biggest enemy on progress is myself. I keep self-doubting my writing, but knowing someone out there is reading this story and liking it gives me such a confidence boost! I'm sorry for being such a slow writer, but I'm going to keep going until I finish this!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Invitation**

 _His eyes…_

 _Those dark orbs had burned into your soul with hunger like a wolf who had been starved for months on end eyeing a fresh piece of meat._

 _He was there in your mind._

 _He haunted your dreams with that crooked smile and lingering gaze._

 _Holding his hand out to you, he beckoned._

 _"Join me," he said, or rather, commanded._

 _The image of him seemed to change before your eyes, flickering as if switching between two different channels on a television continuously._

 _Static filled your head as you watched his irises dance between smoldering charcoal and a sinister yellow._

 _His messy dark hair turned long and wild, wrinkled suit into an ornate kimono stained crimson and partially blackened with filth._

 _The smile upon his lips grew into a menacing grin, one that hinted toward nothing but wickedness and disaster._

 _You hesitated._

 _The world behind this man twisted and crumbled into an unrecognizable void of red and black._

 _To follow him would be a descent into darkness._

 _And yet something was pushing you toward him, some unseen force tethering you to him._

 _'We belong with him,' a voice hissed in your head._

 _Destiny was calling._

 _But would you heed the call?_

 _Slowly, you began to reach out for his hand..._

 _xxxx_

With a yelp, you shot up off the couch.

You pressed a hand to your frightened heart, gasping for breath as you tried to make sense of what you had dreamt about.

The chilling stare of that man was something you could not easily push away.

"What the hell? Ugh, no more sake before bed," you sighed and licked your parched lips.

The headache from earlier had never left and made your head pulse with each movement as you stood to grab a drink of water.

The television served as the only source of illumination in the apartment. You skirted around the moving boxes as best you could, swearing sharply when you stubbed a toe or two before reaching the kitchen sink.

Outside, rain slapped against the windows. The cacophonous symphony of mother nature's wrath overpowered the chattering of the news anchors on TV.

You rinsed out the glass you had used for your boozy headache remedy and filled it to the brim with cold tap water.

Just what was that dream?

It was definitely different from the usual nightmares. The yellow eyes were there, but this was just something entirely new. And why the heck was Adachi in it?

"I've seen so much of him lately that he's starting to invade my dreams," you smirked.

While the dream was disturbing to say the least, it was a little better than being eaten by blobs. Those things existed. They were real fucking creatures you had the dumb luck to avoid back in Iwatodai.

But this? Crazy kimono clad men and the end of the world? Nothing to worry about as far as you knew. You hadn't run into those quite yet.

Well, except for the world ending. That happened too.

 _Almost._

Your cellphone rang in celebration of its resurrection, catching your attention.

You quickly shuffled to the phone, disconnecting it from the charger and checking the ID. Of course, it was just a number unregistered on your contacts, but you flipped it open anyway. There was only one person you knew of who would care to give you a call.

"Hello?" you answered, your voice slightly hoarse from the exhaustion plaguing you.

"Hey, you're alive!" Adachi exclaimed happily into your ear.

You clutched your forehead and leaned against the counter with a groan.

"Ugh, just barely… My head feels like it's being drilled into with a jackhammer…" Your buzz had long since worn off but the consequences of your choice in 'medicine' added to the initial thumping in your temples.

"Well, I'm finally home and free from that slave-driver… Er, do you want me to come over?"

You thought about it for a moment before shaking your head. A minute of silence passed before it occurred to you that he couldn't see the reply.

"Mmn… I dunno, Adachi-san… I think I need some more rest…"

"Oh, I see…" The disappointment was apparent in his voice and you felt a little bad for denying him. He'd been working his butt off and deserved a rest too. But at the same time, you didn't know if you had the strength to play hostess.

"Sorry, but we could try tomorrow," you offered.

"Okay, sounds good. Get some sleep then. Don't let me hold you back from recovering." You heard him mutter something about his own selfishness and stupidity before he bid you goodnight.

You downed the rest of your water and clicked through the multiple notifications on your phone after hanging up. A bit of guilt was chipping away at your mind, but not enough to call Adachi back and invite him over. What would you do at this hour anyway? You would both just be prolonging a much needed night's sleep.

"Man, is this guy bored or what?"

You shook your head as you read through the missed calls and texts. It was the same number over and over again. Adachi's.

Nearly all the texts were similar:

'Hey!'

'Are you okay?'

'Should I come over?'

The characters on your phone began to blur as your eyes grew tired. You blinked away the persistent sting, saved Adachi's number, and snapped your phone shut with a small snicker.

"Sheesh, doesn't he have anybody else to text? A little lonely, aren't you, Detective?"

You seriously wondered if Adachi did any real work if he had the time to check up on you every five minutes. However, you were slightly flattered. It wasn't everyday that someone took interest in you like this.

And though you hated to admit it, you were lonely too.

Setting your cup in the sink to wash later, you went back to the television. The evening news was just wrapping up.

"Make sure to tune in to our morning news report at 6am! The time is now midnight-"

With a hiss at the cheery reporter, you clicked off the TV, plunging the room into darkness. The sound of the rain battering against the building filled the entire apartment. You hoped you would be able to sleep through the noise.

"Fuck, I better get my ass to bed," you grumbled. You paid for it after all. The couch was a poor substitute for the real thing. As you took the first dragging step toward the bed, the TV screen lit up. You froze and whipped your head back to stare at it.

"The hell is wrong with this thing?"

You watched as a familiar figure gyrated in the fuzzy yellow negative space. The image was clearer this time around, and you knew right away that the girl was Rise Kujikawa, the idol. With how often the broadcasting company liked to spam her Quelorie Magic commercial on the tube, you were fairly certain this was Risette.

The camera panned in, focusing on the voluptuous curves of her bust and hips. The tiny bikini she wore left little to the imagination. You felt nothing but disgust for the sight. The media shouldn't exploit teenage girls in such a way.

"Okay, as much as I love staring at underage tits, (which you really didn't), this is getting weird…" You stomped over to the television and yanked out the cord.

It didn't turn off.

"Huh?" You slapped at the sides in vain, but the screen didn't flicker once. How was this possible? You remembered this happening last night as well. The memory was hazy and you had written it off as a product of exhaustion, but… now you weren't so sure.

As creeped out as you were, frustration began to simmer within you. Your body was screaming for you to get to the nearest bed-like object, threatening to collapse on the floor unless you found one soon.

"C'mon you fuckin' thing, TURN OFF!" Without thinking, you took an angry swing at the screen and hit the glass-

-only to find your arm being sucked halfway into the TV.

The surface rippled as if you had punched a pool of water, but your fingers never hit a single piece of glass or circuitry. It felt strangely empty inside.

You wiggled your fingers, feeling nothing beyond the pit of emptiness you had dipped your hand into. No pain, no electrocution…

Your hand was _in_ the TV.

A part of you had somehow managed to _enter_ the television _without_ injury.

Cautiously you moved closer, craning your neck to look behind the flat screen. You didn't know quite what to expect, but when you saw that your hand was not on the other side you stepped back and looked to your disappearing arm in shock.

After staring for a good solid minute with your mouth agape like a gasping fish, you did what only a rational adult would do.

"AHHHHHHH!" you screamed at the top of your lungs, jerking back your limb. The screen glimmered and faded to black in an instant. Your violent reaction caused you to knock into the coffee table, the edge catching the back of your knees and sending you tumbling ass-over-tea-kettle.

You grunted as you rolled over the table, your body wedging in the tiny foot-space between the couch and table.

"Shit!" you growled, an uncomfortable dampness spreading quickly over your abdomen. You lifted your head to see that you had taken the cold remnants of your instant noodle dinner with you in your feat of (un)gracefulness.

Fuck, you were way too tired for this.

No sooner had you painstakingly wiggled out of the cramped space than the doorbell began to buzz with a rhythm of urgency.

"You okay in there!?" you heard Adachi shout through the door between his rapid knocking.

"Just peachy!" you hollered, vehemently spewing four letter words under your breath as you picked the stray noodles off your shirt and threw away the soup container. You rubbed your bruised lower-back and half stumbled to the door.

Maybe what had happened was just some drunken hallucination. Was there wormwood in that sake?

...Was that even legal in this country?

You shook your head, clearing the thoughts rattling around in your brain.

"It's just my intoxicated imagination. There's no other explanation for it. Or maybe I'm just really fucking tired," you mumbled as you flicked on the lights and fumbled with the lock. The latter was more likely than the former by a landslide.

When you opened the door, a panicked Adachi was on you, patting you over and assessing your well-being. The second he touched you, your headache seemed to grow even worse.

"What happened? You're not hurt are you?" he questioned, keeping his hands clamped on your shoulders as he peered over your head to scan the room like a meerkat on high alert.

Your face flushed a brilliant shade of stop sign.

"I'm fine! I-uh… I was watching a scary movie! Yeah, just one of those shitty jumpscares. The guy just came out of nowhere and- um, sorry for making such a fuss."

The words died on your lips as the detective stared at you with a skeptical look on his face.

"Okay…" Bewilderment creased Adachi's brow before he sighed. "Hm, oh well. I guess you seem fine to me."

He gave a small shrug and lessened his grip on you. "Sheesh, don't scare me like that! Try and keep the noise level down a few notches. The other neighbors aren't as forgiving as I am, y'know. Heh, maybe next time you decide to watch a horror movie I should be over to hold your hand through it, scaredy cat."

Adachi poked at your cheek with a half-cocked smile and chuckled when you swatted his hand away.

"Sh-shut up... I'm not a little kid. It just surprised the hell out of me," you stammered.

You looked back to sneak a peek at the TV. It sat in dormant innocence but you knew better.

The sight did nothing to soothe your uneasiness.

"Oh man, what happened to your shirt?"

You turned back to Adachi with a groan and waved a dismissive hand.

"It's… it's just been a long night, Adachi-san." You replied, slumping your shoulders. You were just too enervated to explain. Why couldn't this night be over already? "I'm really sorry about disturbing you. I promise it won't happen again. I know that it hasn't been easy for you tonight either. I don't want to keep you up longer than necessary."

Your hands fiddled with the wet hem of your pajama top as you cast a contrite look up at the detective.

"Hey, no problem at all. I just wanted to see if you were all right. I was really worried when I heard that scream. You don't have to feel bad about it," he replied with a gentle touch to your arm.

Warmth flooded your cheeks and tingled throughout your body in an instant. You bit your bottom lip, the corners of your mouth rising.

"Thank you. It's pretty rare to have someone around who actually gives a shit about me these days," you laughed softly.

"Seriously? That's just too hard to believe. I-I mean… you're still young! You could easily have friends to hang out with or a line of guys falling over themselves trying to get your attention. Someone like you should be cared about by somebody." Adachi's gaze reached an intensity that made you want to hide under your covers and scream your embarrassment into a pillow.

But no, you couldn't look away.

There was a strange fluttering in your chest as his words bounced around inside your brain. Was he just saying these things to make you feel better? Or… was there something more hiding in between the lines?

You found yourself giggling nervously.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm exactly the opposite of what you think I am." You shook your head and took a step back with a sad smile. "I've never had any time to devote to a real relationship of any kind whether it be with friends or men. These things have never been easy for me… It's true a girl my age shouldn't be so lonely, but hey… that was the card I was dealt, so I've just gotten used to it."

You heaved a great sigh and broke eye contact.

There it was again. What was it about this man that made you crack open that dark box holding all of your fears, your past, your secret wishes? The conversation by Shiroku came to mind once more. You had control over what you wanted to omit from the conversation. You knew what not to say that would cast you in the limelight as a lunatic.

But there was no lying about your life and sugarcoating all the sad little details. For some reason, you couldn't just smile and blatantly spill false accounts of enjoying the things women your age did. Being around him brought the honesty out of you, and you weren't sure if it was a good thing. You barely knew him after all.

"But… I appreciate your concern. Really I do," you added quietly. Before Adachi could react, you decided it would be best to just end this conversation. It would just spiral into a deeply depressing subject you never wished to drag him into. You went to stand by the door, putting your hand on it to send the message across.

"You should get back to your room, Adachi-san. It's late, we're both exhausted, and-"

Without warning, the man caught your other hand.

You gasped as a jolt of electricity shot up your arm at his touch, a hot wave of nausea hitting you like a frieght train. Your knees nearly buckled until Adachi pulled you to him with a quick tug. He held you close, one hand still holding yours while the other rested on your opposite arm. Your bodies never touched, but you were near enough to feel the heat radiating off of him.

Voices filled your mind all at once, static words between rapidly cycling frequencies as if someone was playing with the tuning dial on a radio. There was no isolating one voice; it was all a garbled mess. But only a few coherent words surfaced.

 _I am-_

 _Thou art-_

 _Iza-_

 _We…_

 _Belong…_

You struggled against the strange voices. In the sensory overload, it was hard to stay sharp in your current predicament.

"A-Adachi-san, wh-what are you-"

"_(name)_, I know we hardly know each other yet but... I just want you to know that I'm here if you ever need me. If you need help, I can help you. If you want to talk, I'll lend you and ear and a shoulder to cry on. If you're lonely… then maybe I can be that 'somebody' for you," Adachi whispered.

You were a prisoner to his eyes once more. The mysterious depths of those coal orbs held things that you wanted to know, things you wanted to uncover. You remembered that wolf-like stare as well as the empty gaze of a man unhappy with his life. You wanted to know more.

 _Belong…_

 _Belong…_

 _His!_

"What…?" You were mostly asking the voices, however the snippets of Adachi's words in between the babbling were jarring as well.

"Uh- that is… if you'd let me…," he paused, his eyes darting over your reddening face as if searching for something until he cleared his throat sheepishly and blushed. "I-I'm sorry! Gosh, what am I saying!?"

Gone was the intensity that had drawn you in almost magnetically. The awkward man you had acquaintanced yourself with was back. Oh, how strange Tohru Adachi was…

"I mean, I can be your friend! Unless… well, unless you'd like to- ack! N-nevermind, forget I said anything. Uh, well don't forget _everything_ , just the last part!" Adachi finished with a weary breath and bowed his head slightly.

Your head was spinning with confusion. Just what was he trying to get at? Was that an attempt at asking you out?

The thought made you feel even more feverish.

"Um… thank you?"

As unsure as you were, it was still clear that Adachi wanted to show you some sort of companionship. As a friend or… something more, that part was unclear; however, it warmed your heart to think that he didn't want you feeling lonely.

"Well, I… I just know what it feels like to be alone that's why I…," Adachi sighed with a troubled glint in his eye before letting you go. Your hand was still warm from the contact. "Anyway, I guess I'll be going now. You have a restful sleep, okay?" The words spilled from his lips quickly, leaving his previous statement unfinished.

With a short incline of his head, Adachi turned to leave.

"Wait!" You reached out, snagging his sleeve. He twisted around in surprise with a confused expression.

You wanted to assure him about tomorrow's promise of a drink, to make that lonesome look disappear. But as your body moved forward, the dizziness struck again like a bolt of lightning. Without any support, the strength left your legs and you began to fall.

 _Iza-_

 _Iza-_

 _Iza..._

Adachi's arms wrapped around your body and he called your name frantically as shadows crept around the edges of your vision. Your head was on fire and Adachi sounded so far away…

You exhaled a single name before plunging into the abyss of unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4: Fever Dream

Hello dear readers! I've finally pushed away my insecurities (kinda lol) and writer's block to bring you this next chapter! :) Happy new year by the way! I hope to keep up writing for this fic, and might try to put out some other ones I've been planning as well. But so many plot bunnies have distracted me from this story already! DX

Chapter 5 is being planned out-ish, more writing it out first and then figuring out what to do. Haha, my writing process is so backwards and I've always been the type to just go with the flow chapter by chapter. I have an idea for an ending and stuff, it's just getting there that is the challenge. Some stories I can figure out the entire plot with ending, and others it just comes to me in bits and pieces.

Hm, I keep reading over this chapter and trying to think how much better I could make it. Some of the stuff sounds the same as the other chapters... idk... I'm so tired but excited to put this out. And of course, I'm eager to get onto the next chapter. I want this ship to start sailing!

* * *

Chapter 4

Fever Dream

 _The fog seemed endless._

 _No matter where you went, it surrounded you, obscured your vision, and suffocated you with its oppressing thickness. You could barely see your own hand just inches away from your face, much less the path ahead._

 _If you could call the jumble of red blocks beneath your feet a 'path'..._

 _However, the splash of color was your only anchor in this world as you continued onward._

 _Your footfalls echoed with each uneasy step. The cubes looked as if they were floating in the space, but when you stepped on them they stayed firmly in place, no sinking or threatening to fall away into an unseen abyss._

 _'What the hell kind of place is this?'_

 _Hearing your thought reverberating all around you as if you had shouted into a deep cavern made you jump. You had never opened your mouth and yet your inner voice had somehow been projected._

 _'Is this some kind of dream?'_

 _You tried to remember what had happened before this, but your brain felt like it was full of static and there was a bizarre buzzing in your ears the more you tried to focus on your memory. It was like having an entire hive of angry bees for a head!_

 _It was then that another voice -neither male nor female- permeated the atmosphere, calling out your name. The sound rang clear as a chiming bell, encompassing the foggy expanse surrounding you and filling every fiber of your being._

 _Goosebumps prickled at your arms and the hairs at the nape of your neck raised in awareness that someone or something was watching you._

 _You spotted a silhouette just ahead of you, but you couldn't make out more than a shadowy outline._

 _'Who are you!?'_

 _Your mouth moved this time, but no sound could be coaxed from your vocal cords. Your mind was doing the talking for you._

 _The being merely chuckled and beckoned at you teasingly. You suppressed a shiver as the sound brushed against your consciousness like silk._

 _You felt violated._

 _"Shall we play a game? You can guess… or perhaps we can play hide and seek if you are brave enough?"_

 _The shadow slunk back into the fog and you cried out in vain for it to 'Wait!'_

 _You broke into a sprint._

 _The fog was as thick as ever the further you travelled, but the crimson blocks soon formed into one uniform road to guide you._

 _The strange voice hadn't disappeared and had taken to taunting you. Your name was whispered, shouted and chanted from every direction, from next to your ear to far away in the hidden distance. You wanted to scream but you pushed on to the end of the path._

 _Your feet slowed to a stop before a large, severely equilateral square door the same shade of retina-burning red as the road._

 _Something waited behind it; you could just feel it..._

 _With one cautious touch, the door moved smoothly and slowly away from the center, circling open section by section like a shutter on the lense of a camera._

 _You stepped into the room and the door hastily folded shut with a jarring 'clang!' that almost stopped your heart. A cold sinking sensation dragged at your stomach as the thought of being trapped in fully took root in your understanding._

 _Your eyes were drawn to the only object occupying the room, an impressive circular bronze mirror dominating the heart. Eight bronze petals radiated around the highly polished surface like rays of light. For some reason, it looked oddly familiar. But you couldn't recall a time you had ever seen a mirror like this._

 _The droning in your brain prevented you from bringing up your memories, but the object was nevertheless nostalgic to you in some weird way._

 _You walked up to it, marveling at the sheer size of this thing. If you had to guess, both the height and width were equal to three times your own height!_

 _Your gaze fell onto your reflection, but something was off._

 _Your body went rigid._

 _The doppelganger was an exact copy of you from head to toe… save for the chilling yellow eyes._

 _You knew those eyes, the very same irises that the midnight monsters possessed, and the eyes of the man from your nightmares as well._

 _It was you… but_ **NOT** _you._

 _The mirror image smiled at you pleasantly and you began to tremble. The muscles of your own face hadn't moved at all. Its smile possessed a sickening sweetness that made your stomach churn._

 _The more you stared at it, the more you began to liken it to a disturbing caricature of yourself._

 _You raised a shaking hand to press against the cold surface, seeing the reflection do the same as it should have. Your palms met, but were separated by the glassy metal._

 _'What the hell is this? That's definitely not me…'_

 _The gigantic mirror could be some kind of trick, like a television screen that some weirdo was using to project this false edit of you._

 _"Oh, but I_ **AM** _you!"_

 _You opened your mouth in a silent scream when your 'reflection' spoke. You yanked back your hand but to your horror, the thing had reached out of the mirror and grabbed your wrist in an excruciating freezing grip._

 _You staggered backwards and effectively pulled the evil twin onto your side of the world. She took hold of your other arm, trapping you with her frightening demonic strength._

 _'Get away from me!'_

 _Her mouth broadened into a shit-eating grin complete with a set of yellowed, pointed teeth. Your soundless screams continued as she wrestled you to the ground easily. She hovered over you on her knees, hands pinning your wrists down at either side of your head._

 _If this was a dream, you pleaded to yourself to wake up. Over and over again, you tried to will yourself awake, but to no avail._

 _"There's no escape! No running from yourself! Face me and submit!" she laughed, her voice now a distorted dual-toned version of your own. Her face changed, turning more sunken and skeletal by the second._

 _'No, no! You're not me! Stop it!'_

 _You kicked wildly, only serving to anger the imposter. She released your wrists and wrapped her bony fingers around your throat. She squeezed the delicate flesh, giving you a single shake to slam the back of your head into the floor._

 _"Why are you being so mean!? You are me and I am you! I AM, I AM, I AM!"_

 _The rear of your skull repeatedly kissed the ground to punctuate her shrieks. You struggled to stay conscious. The lack of air and possibility of a concussion gave you tunnel vision._

 _Your limbs felt heavy, your body was growing cold, but you weakly placed your hands over hers in an attempt to loosen her hold._

 _'I… I'm not really into this kind of shit… so you can let go now, bitch!'_

 _You spat in her face and she let out an enraged scream that also sounded like she was in pain._

 _She grit her teeth, the action causing her face to crack. From the corners of her mouth, her skin began to split. The cracks spider-webbed upwards over her cheeks, nose, eyelids and up her forehead. Until finally, the right side of her face crumbled and fell away like the fragile porcelain of a china doll._

 _However, her head was far from hollow._

 _Underneath was your own face, albeit normal this time, her eye a softened shade of gold that differed from the harsh yellow of the fiendish half._

 _'...Wh-what…?'_

 _You stared at the serene expression on this new side, such a bold contrast to the hateful grin on the other. When she spoke, this calm, almost beautiful side was independent from the monster._

 _"Don't give in… find the truth… find me…," she whispered gently._

 _The doppelganger's right hand dropped from your neck while the other stayed in place._

 _'Huh? Truth?'_

 _Another ear-piercing shriek came from the demon as she covered the unmasked side with her free hand._

 _"YoU WILL cArRy oUt MY WiSheS! YOU WILL SUBMIT!"_

 _You could feel your windpipe collapsing under the pressure of her grasp. Tears squeezed from the corners of your eyes as you fought for air. You clawed at her hand, body jerking violently._

 _And then-_

 _-nothing…_

 _Her twisted laughter followed you as you succumbed to the darkness._

 **xxx**

Someone was screaming.

If they didn't shut the hell up, you would make it your sworn duty to make them do so.

Your head ached, your body was spent, your throat was dry and raw… you were decidedly hungover from last night.

When you finally opened your eyes, you discovered that it was in fact yourself who was screaming.

You were clinging to someone, your heart pounding and a sheen of cold sweat on your skin. Your hair felt uncomfortably damp against your head.

"_(name)_-chan ! It's okay, it's just a dream! C'mon, snap out of it!"

Adachi hugged you tightly, one of his hands smoothing over your back to calm you.

You immediately stopped as the feeling of the man's arms embracing you brought you back to reality.

Gasping, you drew away from him rather violently as a healthy dose of scarlet decorated your face. You winced when your back met an unfamiliar metal barred headboard.

"Wh-wh… what happened? Where am I?" you stammered, your wild gaze travelling around the stark white room.

This wasn't your bed, nor was this even your apartment. And the flimsy white gown **[1]** you were wearing definitely wasn't yours.

You hissed at a sudden pain in your hand and blinked at the long needle half hanging out of your skin. The medical tape strapped over it prevented the object from dislodging completely, but the needle had been disturbed enough to cause a fresh bead of blood to well up from the injection site.

Your eyes followed the tubes hooked up to it back to an IV bag filled with clear liquid. A heart monitor sat next to it that beeped quite rapidly in time with your pulse.

"Okay… don't panic too much, all right? We're at the Inaba Municipal Hospital. I took you here when you passed out that night you were sick. You had a crazy fever, and I really didn't know what to do so I figured this was the best option. It's… it's been about three days since then."

Your jaw dropped.

"Th-th-th… Three days!?"

Adachi nodded, his mouth set in a grim line.

"Yeah, today's Saturday. You've missed quite a bit, missy. Man, you have no idea how worried I was! The doctor said your fever was 40.5℃! **[2]** I… I was so afraid that you'd…" He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm just glad you're awake now. How are you feeling?"

Honestly, you were still floored by the fact that you had slept through three days without waking. But with such a high fever, perhaps that was for the best.

"...Well, I feel like absolute shit. A fever demon from Hell made me her bitch for three frickin' days! I'm tired, my body is screaming, and I wanna eat the biggest fucking beef bowl ever to make my empty stomach shut up," you grumbled and gave him a deadpan stare.

You couldn't help being grumpy after all this. With that creepy dream still fresh in your mind and the frightfully real feeling of your throat being crushed by that thing… needless to say, you were still on edge.

You quietly wondered if there was some kind of medication for freaky twisted dreams. Lately, they were becoming more terrorizing and surreal than they have ever been. The black goop creatures still scared the shit out of you, but you almost preferred to dream about an evil you knew than these new strange beings invading your subconscious. God, how you prayed it wouldn't get any worse! What you wouldn't give for a nice normal dream full of sunshine and rainbows and naked dopey detectives-

 _Wait, what?_

You desperately pushed away the image as Adachi smiled weakly and patted your shoulder.

"Good to see you haven't lost your personality, heh. I can't really help you with much, but I do know the perfect place to get that beef bowl you're hankering for. Of course… that's if they release you. Uh, and if you want to… y'know… go with me." He blushed and scratched at his cheek, a hand slipping into his pocket like an insecure high school boy asking you to prom.

The heart monitor started picking up again.

At first you could do nothing but laugh hysterically. The blood in your brain was quickly rushing away to other insignificant places as you imagined going out hand-in-hand with the detective to… breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?

A quick glance at the clock on the wall told you it would be a late dinner depending on how long the hospital wanted to hold you for an additional exam and whatnot. Currently, it was 6:30 PM.

By the time your laughter expired, Adachi was already looking dejected. Seeing this alarmed you. You quickly cleared your throat and mentally slapped yourself for the lack of self-control.

"Y-yeah! Sorry! Um, that'd be awesome!" you blurted, face on fire with embarrassment.

Instantly, Adachi exhaled a breath of relief and brightened.

"Okay, great! Hopefully you can check out tonight; the place we're going to closes at 9."

You nodded wordlessly. Your mind repeated 'date' like a broken record despite the fact that neither of you had expressed the outing would be one. A part of you argued that this would be just a caring co-worker trying to make you feel better, but the look on Adachi's face said otherwise with the way he stared at you.

Those dark puppy-dog eyes were honest.

He liked you.

And the fresh flowers on your bedside table only served to support this theory. While they could have been from anyone else, the one who came to mind was Adachi. You hadn't spent more time around anyone but him. You figured that was enough to warrant an obligatory bouquet to a sick co-worker/neighbor since he was the only one you socialized with.

A quick knock at the door ripped you away from your swooning.

A female nurse in a white uniform dress and pink blazer came in with a clipboard in her hands. She looked to you in surprise, her luscious rosy lips forming a small 'o'.

"You're awake! Ah, I told you to call me if she woke up, Adachi-san," she chastised and was at your side in the blink of an eye.

"S-sorry about that!" Adachi apologized and stepped back out of her way as she took out the necessary equipment to check your vitals.

"_(name)_-san, it's good to see you're finally up. My name is Sayoko Urehara; I've been watching over you since you came in three days ago. You gave us quite the scare with that fever of yours," she said while running a thermometer over your forehead. She checked the little screen when it beeped and smiled. "Looks like you've finally broken out of it. 37.0℃ **[3]** , perfect."

The nurse made a note of it on her clipboard and put on her stethoscope.

You felt your cheeks heat when she parted the folds of your gown to press the flat chestpiece over your heart. Your cleavage was just hanging out there for Adachi to see. A furtive peek at him confirmed your fears. He was ogling you and failing hard at concealing it.

"Hmm, a little quick, but I think I know why," Urehara chuckled with a knowing wink and pulled away to scribble on your chart. "Ne, you're pretty lucky to have a boyfriend like him coming around to check on you everyday and bring you flowers. I wish I had someone like that," she sighed wistfully and put a hand to her flushed cheek.

"But we're not-!"

"-dating!"

Your words mashed with Adachi's as you both cried out at the same time. Realizing this, the two of you simultaneously stopped and turned away with equally red faces.

The raven haired woman giggled and secured a blood pressure cuff to your arm.

You just prayed that this would be over very soon so you could escape the nurse's awkward teasing.

* * *

End notes:

 **[1]:** the flimsy hospital gown is kind of more like a thin yukata/robe in my mind.

 **[2]:** 40.5 degrees C is about 105 degrees F!

 **[3]:** 37.0 degrees C is 98.6 degrees F, a normal healthy temp.

I figured Sayoko could have a small cameo. I kinda like her haha.

Okay, going to try a new thing and acknowledge reviewers from the previous chapter, maybe answer questions if there are questions, and respond to feedback here. Thank you to Vangran and Lamby for your input! The positivity just helps keep me going when the inner critic in me comes down harshly on my writing. I'm glad that I'm keeping my readers' interest and eagerness for the next chapter!

In answer to the question of who's involved with the dreams... this chapter sorta answers it hehe, but at the same time, there's a little more going on in the background than you know. ;)

And thank you also to those who have followed and favorited this as well! Please continue to stick with me on this journey!

Please review if you enjoyed it, disliked it, or have suggestions/constructive criticism/questions/etc. Thank you! See you next chapter! :)


End file.
